Rebecca Reviews ~ My Dear Miss Dupré (American Royalty, #1) by Grace Hitchcock

 

Thirty suitors, six months of courting . . .
would it be enough time for her to fall in love?

Willow Dupré never thought she would have to marry, but with her father's unexpected retirement from running the prosperous Dupré sugar refinery, she is forced into a different future. The shareholders are unwilling to allow a female to take over the company without a man at her side, so her parents devise a plan--find Willow a spokesman king in order for her to become queen of the business empire.

Willow is presented with thirty potential suitors from the families of New York society's elite group called the Four Hundred. She has six months to court the group and is told to to eliminate men each month to narrow her beaus until she chooses one to marry, ending the competition with a wedding. Willow reluctantly agrees, knowing she must do what is best for the business. She doesn't expect to find anything other than a proxy . . . until she meets a gentleman who captures her attention, and she must discover for herself if his motives are pure.

Purchase: Baker Books

Rebecca’s Review ~ 4.5 stars

"Gentleman, allow me to present the lady of the hour, the future queen of the Dupré Sucre empire, Miss Willow Dupré ".

It was either the most brilliant idea in high society history or the most abominable; as far as Willow Dupré was concerned the jury was still out. Her parent's notion of parading thirty gentlemen callers in front of her was not only embarrassing, but seemingly impossible. How was she to choose a potential husband from the lot of them, when her time would be hopelessly divided between so many? Was this truly the only way to maintain leadership of her father's prestigious sugar company, to convince the board of directors that she was capable; she was on a deadline to snag a "male figurehead? This wasn't the 1840's." How utterly chauvinistic of them.

As Willow begins to cull out the gentlemen who are obviously not "match material", the selection process becomes harder as the stakes become higher. Unfortunately there are wolves in sheep's clothing mixed in among the flock, determined to watch her fail, but Willow has no time to commiserate her circumstances; her father's health is deteriorating quickly while the company curiously continues to gain customers, but lose money. Who might Willow trust to treasure her heart, while fully and selflessly appreciating her acuity for numbers and ledgers, for as one of her best friends duly noted, "the heart was not like a business transaction". And just when her decision becomes clearer in her mind, her heart takes a near fatal tumble.

A story that might have come across as a bit trite, has instead portrayed encounters rich in experience, allowing extravagance to dance upon the pages of a delightful journey into the lives of the nouveau rich, proving that at the core of every soul is a desire to be loved unconditionally, first by a Maker and with the help of Providence, also by a soul mate. It will require incredible courage for Willow to make the right decision, as it has for so many others.

"Lord, I trusted you to give me a new song. Is this it? A ballad of a broken heart?"

I was scheduled to receive a copy of this book from the author and publisher. I also purchased a copy. The opinions stated above are entirely my own.

Senior Reviewer, Rebecca Maney

Rebecca is a graduate of Bryan College with a degree in Christian Education, and is currently serving at the First Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Gastonia, North Carolina as the Director of Children's Ministry. With over 30 years of experience in her field, she has had many opportunities to use her love of reading and writing in creative ways across the generations. A wife, mother of four "nearly" grown children, and grandmother to four beautiful grandchildren, Rebecca has been able to return to her love of reading and more recently reviewing, with a renewed passion for the "beauty of story".